Lake Albert (New South Wales)

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Lake Albert ( 35°09′S, 147°22′E) is an artificial lake near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia. Covering 125ha, the lake was built in the 1890s on what was known as Swampy Plains and was named after Prince Albert.

Surrounded by parkland, the lake is a venue for water sports, fishing, walking and bird watching. The lake is home to the Boat Club and one of the town's two golf courses, Wagga Wagga Country Club, is situated on the western shore of the lake.

Lake Albert is also the name of a suburb of Wagga Wagga on the shores of the lake. The suburb is home to three schools, Lake Albert Primary School, Mater Dei Primary School and Mater Dei Catholic College. A shopping centre located within the suburb houses Foodworks supermarket and specialty shops.

[edit] Water levels

Due to years of drought the water level at Lake Albert reached record lows and in 2005 Wagga Wagga City Council considered pumping water into the lake to prevent further fish deaths. After a thunderstorm dumped around 50mm in the area the lake reached its full depth in early November 2005. As at March 2006 the lake was around 85% full.

January 2007 a ban on water sport activities on Lake Albert is likely in the next few weeks if the lakes level drops below 1.2m due to the on going drought. ^[1]

[edit] Events

On 13 and 14 May 2006 the Barry Carne Memorial Ski Race returned to Lake Albert after a 4 year absence due to the lake being at record low levels owing to drought.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ban On Water Sports Likely (html). The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved on January 9, 2007.